Dental calculus and dental plaque are main causes for periodontal diseases and dental caries. Therefore, the removal of dental calculus and dental plaque sticking to tooth surfaces and root surfaces as well as artificial repair prosthetic appliances and dental implants is the most important measure for treatment and prevention of dental diseases.
In such dental treatment, the removal of dental calculus and dental plaque on tooth surfaces, the debridement in pockets, and the detoxification of dental root surfaces for smoothening root surfaces, that is, dental plaque control, scaling, and root planing are important basic measures.
Incidentally, scaling means an operation for removing sticking matters such as dental plaque and dental calculus above and below the gingival margin. The root planing means an operation for smoothening dental root surfaces and removing destroyed cementum and dental calculus remaining and embedded in dental root surfaces to detoxify the contaminated dental root surfaces.
The above-mentioned scaling and root planing operations are usually performed by using a hand metallic scaler, especially a hand curette scaler. At present, this method is the most reliable one in the world. However, the scaling and root planing using a hand curette scaler require very high skill and are troublesome.
Also, the scaling and root planing are sometimes done by supplementarily using a treatment appliance such as an engine Roto sonic scaler, turbine air scaler, and ultrasonic scaler besides the method using a hand curette scaler.
Among these treatment appliances, the ultrasonic scaler is designed so that a dental tip of a predetermined shape is connected to an ultrasonic vibration source for generating ultrasonic waves of a predetermined frequency. The dental tip is integral from the proximal end thereof to the distal tip end, and the proximal end can be connected detachably to the aforesaid ultrasonic vibration source.
When the ultrasonic vibration source is operated in the ultrasonic wave zone, the ultrasonic vibrations are transmitted from the proximal end to the distal tip end. By pressing the distal tip end against a portion to be treated on a tooth surface, dental calculus etc. are ground and removed.
On this ultrasonic scaler, therefore, the aforesaid tip functions as a transmission medium for ultrasonic vibrations generated by the ultrasonic vibration source.
Dental treatment includes a variety of items such as the removal of matter sticking to teeth and artificial objects (artificial dental roots, artificial teeth, artificial filling repair prosthetic appliances such as inlay and amalgam, etc.), the removal of pathological portions, the grinding and polishing of surfaces, the cleaning, the treatment of root canals, and the destroying of salivary stones.
For the tip of the aforesaid ultrasonic scaler, therefore, special-purpose tips of a shape suitable for each kind of dental treatment are usually used so that the above listed dental treatments can be provided properly. For example, a tip of a complicated shape along a tooth surface for tooth periphery treatment, a tip for prevention, a tip for the enlargement and cleaning of the interior of a root canal, a tip for filling a root canal, a tip for treatment of an inverted root canal, etc. are available.
These tips are usually manufactured as integral ones using a metallic material with high corrosion resistance and wear resistance such as stainless steel. In particular, a dental tip manufactured of a hard metallic material is a very effective tip for dental treatment because it inhibits tip wear in use and also can efficiently remove the sticking matters such as dental calculus in a short period of time. On the other hand, however, the metallic tip is liable to damage teeth and artificial objects. Once they are damaged, dental calculus, dental plaque, etc. stick to the damaged portion, by which periodontal diseases and dental caries are newly caused.
The metallic tip is generally connected to the ultrasonic vibration source using screw threads in order not only to reliably transmit ultrasonic vibrations to the tip and but also to prevent the tip from coming off during use by securely fixing the tip.
When the mode of dental treatment is changed, it is necessary to do replacement work such that the mounted tip is disconnected from the ultrasonic vibration source by screwing to remove the tip. Thereafter and then another tip of a shape suitable for the dental treatment to be given next is connected to the ultrasonic vibration source by screwing. That is to say, each time the mode of dental treatment is changed, work is necessary for removing the tip having been used and mounting a new tip by screwing.
However, such work requires a special-purpose mounting/demounting tool. Also, from the standpoint of a dentist who actually provides dental treatment, the time required for tip replacement is an ineffective time and the replacement work is troublesome, and also the ultrasonic scaler cannot be used efficiently.
The tip end is formed with a small-diameter water passage extending in the shank from the proximal end to the distal tip end. This passage is actually used for spraying cleaning water or liquid medicine from the water passage when dental treatment is provided. However, since the tip itself is complicated and thin in shape, the work for forming the above-mentioned water passage requires a high level of skill. As a result, it is difficult to mass-produce the tips at a low cost. For this reason, the price of the dental tip is necessarily very high.
On the other hand, in recent years, in order to avoid infections from diseases such as AIDS and serum hepatitis which have a strong infectivity when dental treatment is given, an apparatus used for treatment, especially an apparatus which comes into direct contact with a secretion such as saliva and blood, or an apparatus which comes into direct contact with the secretion and moreover has a small hole, has been desired to be disposable.
However, since the conventional dental tip is very expensive as described above, it cannot be thrown away after each dental treatment.
Further, when a person attempts to remove dental calculus for prevention, or to polish the tooth surfaces by himself, the tip cannot be thrown away all the more because the tip is expensive.